COLLECTING UNPAID WAGES & ENFORCING …

1 COLLECTING UNPAID WAGES & ENFORCING judgments IN MARYLANDA Guide to Judgment Enforcement, Asset Investigation, and Employer AccountabilityPrepared by:Jonathan Harris & Molly TheobaldWorkplace Justice ProjectPublic Justice Center1 North Charles Street, Suite 200 Baltimore, MD 21201(410) updated 8/2012 MISSION OF THE PUBLIC JUSTICE CENTERThe Public Justice Center works with people and communities to confront the laws, practices, and institu-tions that cause injustice, poverty, and discrimination. We advocate in the courts, legislatures, and govern-ment agencies, educate the public, and build coalitions, all to advance our mission of pursuing systemic change to build a just society. MISSION OF THE WORKPLACE JUSTICE PROJECTThe Workplace Justice Project fosters respect for the inherent worth of all human beings by promoting the fundamental right to work with dignity.

2 We enforce workers rights to just and safe working conditions, including the fundamental rights to be paid fully and fairly, to join forces with other workers for the pro-motion and protection of their mutual economic and social interests, to have opportunities to work and advance free from discrimination, and to work in conditions that are safe, healthy, and provide adequate time for leisure and rest. ABOUT THE AUTHORSJ onathan Harris is a Skadden Fellow at the Public Justice Center s Workplace Justice Project, where he engages in systemic advocacy, direct legal assistance, and legislative reform efforts at the intersections of workers and consumers Theobald is a 2012 summer legal intern at the Public Justice Center and a student at the Washing-ton College of to Michael Hollander at Community Legal Services of Philadelphia and Matthew Sirolly at the wage Justice Center, who provided extensive guidance during the construction of this guide.

3 Portions of this guide are adapted, with consent, from ENFORCING judgments in Pennsylvania, prepared by Mr. Hol-lander and Community Legal Services, and from ENFORCING wage Rights & COLLECTING UNPAID WAGES , pre-pared by Mr. Sirolly and the wage Justice Center. Much appreciation also goes to the Skadden Fellowship Foundation for making this project possible, to the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP for assisting with the layout of this guide, and to Ronald Burdge of the Burdge Law Office, Daniel Katz of the Law Offices of Gary M. Gilbert & Associates, and Nathaniel Norton of the Maryland Legal Aid Bureau for additional assistance with content. Finally, special thanks to the Public Justice Center s Sally Dworak-Fisher for her support and mentorship during the creation of this guide is an informative overview of various strategies and tactics available to collect UNPAID WAGES , and is not legal advice or a substitute for legal of ContentsINTRODUCTION & OVERVIEW OF THE DOCUMENT.

4 6 The Reality of wage Collections ..6 How to Use this Guide ..7 Overview: Three Phases to Collection of UNPAID WAGES ..8 Research ..8 Prejudgment ..9 Post-Judgment ..9 TOP 3 EFFECTIVE TECHNIQUES: ..11 PHASE ONE: EMPLOYER INVESTIGATION AND ASSET RESEARCH ..12 Goals of Your Research ..12 Identify the Defendant Employer ..13 Determine all Potential Defendants: ..13 Identify What Sort of Legal Entity the Defendant Operates the Defendant for Service of the Employer s Assets ..13 Streams of Revenue & Other Lawsuits ..13 Internet TWO: PREJUDGMENT REMEDIES FOR UNPAID WAGES ..16 Attachment Before Judgment for State Court Cases ..16 What is this? ..16 Why would I want to do this?.

5 16 What are the drawbacks?.. Conveyance Act ..17 What is this? ..17 Why would I want to do this?..18 What are the drawbacks?..18 Mechanic s Lien ..18 What is this? ..18 Why would I want to do this?..18 What are the drawbacks?..18 Procedure to File Mechanic s Reform: wage Lien ..20 This document is interactive, so if you click on a section in the Table of Contents, it will take you to that section, or if you click on a website URL, it will take you to that THREE: POST-JUDGMENT ENFORCEMENT FOR UNPAID WAGES ..21 Getting the Employer to Pay Voluntarily ..21 Write a Post-Judgment Demand Letter (See appendix M for a sample demand letter) ..22 Set Up a Payment Plan ..22 Judgment Lien.

6 22 What is it? ..22 Why do I want to do this? ..23 What are the drawbacks?.. the Court to Assist Asset Searching Post-Judgment ..23 Written Interrogatories in Aid of is this? ..23 Why would I want to do this?..23 What are the drawbacks?.. & Oral Examinations in Aid of is this? ..24 Why would I want to do this?..24 What are the drawbacks?.. the Third-Party to Handle an Uncooperative of Execution ..27 What is it? ..27 Why would I want to do this?..27 Serving a writ of Property ..29 Garnishment ..30 What is it? ..30 Why would I want to do this?..30 What are the drawbacks?..31 What is it? ..31 Why would I want to do this?..31 What are the drawbacks?.. s is it? ..32 Why would I want to do this?

7 32 What are the drawbacks?.. Contacts for Sheriff s Sales ..32I Have a Federal Judgment, What Do I Do with It? ..33 Choosing a in Federal is it? ..34 Why do I want to do this? ..34 What are the drawbacks?.. in State Court .. to Do When the Employer Declares Bankruptcy ..36 File a Proof of do I want to do this? ..36 What are the drawbacks?.. (a) Action Challenging the Discharge of Debt ..37 What is it? ..37 Why do I want to do this? ..37 What are the drawbacks?.. from Automatic Stay ..38 THE MONEY S COME! WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR JUDGMENT HAS BEEN PAID IN FULL ..39 Order of Satisfaction ..39 APPENDICES ..40 The forms are provided as exemplars and are subject to change by the courts or the MVA.

8 Current versions should always be obtained from the courts or the MVA rather than copied from this guide. The Maryland Judiciary provides most District Court forms online, many of which are fillable and downloadable PDFs: A: Federal Application for a Writ of Execution ..41 Appendix B: Federal Writ of Execution ..43 Appendix C: Federal Application for Garnishment of Property Other Than D: Maryland District Court Request for Writ of Attachment Before Judgment (DC/CV 5) ..48 Appendix E: Maryland District Court Writ of Execution (DC/CV 40) ..51 Appendix F: Maryland District Court Request for Transmittal of Judgment (DC/CV 34) .. 54 Appendix G: Maryland District Court Request for Defendant to Appear for Examination in Aid of Enforcement (DC/CV 32).

9 56 Appendix H: Maryland District Court Request for Show Cause Order for Contempt (DC/CV 33)..59 Appendix I: Maryland District Court Request for Garnishment of Property Other Than WAGES (DC/CV 60)..62 Appendix J: Maryland District Court Request for Garnishment on WAGES (DC/CV 65) ..65 Appendix K: Maryland District Court Order of Satisfaction (DC/CV 31)..68 Appendix L: MVA Request for Motor Vehicle Administration Records (DR-057)..70 Appendix M: Sample Demand Letter ..73 Appendix N: Sample Interrogatories in Aid of O: Sample Questions for Oral Examination in Aid of P: Sample Document Request for Oral Examination in Aid of Guide to Judgment Enforcement, Asset Investigation, and Employer AccountabilityWage theft the failure to pay all WAGES due for work per-formed is rampant in Maryland and, more than ever, work-ers need assistance in COLLECTING their due WAGES .

10 Oftentimes, low- wage workers win judgments against employers for UNPAID WAGES that go unenforced for a number of reasons, including an inability by workers and their advocates to navigate the collections process. Defendant employers use a number of tactics that preclude even a winning plaintiff employee from ever COLLECTING the WAGES that have been found to be owed: corporations dissolve, file for bankruptcy, individuals move out of state or otherwise go AWOL. The result is that a worker may never see his or her pay even after protracted litigation and a judgment. For the uninitiated, un-paid wage collections, especially after entry of judgment, can seem mysterious, time consuming, frustrating, and ultimately like an exercise in futility.